Last Sunday, Samantha was scrolling through Twitter to join the conversation about Lemonade, Beyoncé’s new visual album, when she came across a post that shocked her. The tweet read: “We know who Becky is.”
“Becky”, based on lyrics from the song Sorry, is thought to be Jay Z’s former mistress (on the track Beyoncé sings: “He only want me when I’m not there/ He better call Becky with the good hair”).
The 30-year-old office administrator immediately followed the link to fashion designer Rachel Roy’s Instagram page. Hours after the album’s debut, Roy posted a selfie with the caption: “Good hair don’t care ...” She had already been the subject of rumors related to Jay Z and, though Roy has since denied any affair, her words shook the Beyhive – Beyoncé’s superfans who are eager to sting anyone who insults their queen.
Samantha, who declined to give her last name, was riled up. “I was drunk off of Lemonade from the night before,” says the Beyhiver who notes that for young black women, Beyoncé is the Oprah of her generation. “I was like, ‘I can’t believe this bitch has the nerve to brag about being a mistress.’”
She read the other comments on Roy’s Instagram – “your legit dead”, “WHOREEEEEE” and a bombardment of bee and lemon emojis 🍋 🐝 – and added her own:
Rachel you just played yourself. If you think people are going to support your career over Beyoncé you are so wrong. Your ugly clothes are going to go from Macy’s to Burlington Coat Factory in a week. #DustToSideChicks 🍋 🐝 🍋🐝 🍋 🐝 🐝 🍋
Because of the vicious Beyhive swarm, Roy switched her Instagram to private on Sunday, but the fans followed her to Twitter. They also mistakenly harassed celebrity chef Rachael Ray and attacked Roy’s 16-year-old daughter on social media with gems such as:
“The daughter of a slut 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝”
“Yo mom needs to drink bleach.”
The “Becky” shaming is just the latest in a long line of vendettas executed by obsessive pop star fans. The most extreme supporters lurk in the Twitter trenches, ready to deploy at the first sign of an attack on their leader.
In addition to the Beyhive there are Justin Bieber’s “Beliebers”, Katy Perry’s “KatyCats”, One Direction’s “Directioners”, Taylor Swift’s “Swifties”, Lady Gaga’s “Little Monsters” and, well, you get the idea.
The most devoted members of these fanatical clubs are often young people who troll social media to remind anyone who doesn’t like Bieber’s hair that they deserve to die. And though many are well-intentioned, the toxic combination of online anonymity and power in numbers means these groups often act more like online bullies than passionate fans.
Because a musician’s work is often so personal, people feel they know the real Beyoncé and connect her music to aspects of their own identity. Lady Gaga helps outsiders embrace their quirkiness, Bieber makes young girls feel loved and Beyoncé empowers women to feel fearless. Those deep connections to celebrities can be positive, especially for marginalized groups, but they also breed an extreme kind of loyalty.
“[A fan] might take an attack on Beyoncé as being an attack on them,” says Alice Marwick, an assistant professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University. “They’re going to play out that identity by coming to her defense.”
The same mentality that causes fights to break out between sports fan happens in the cyberworld; the group dynamic tends to push the collective in a more extreme direction.
“If one person has a mean thing to say, the next person will support that,” said Don Forsyth, a professor of psychology and sociology at the University of Richmond. “But they also push it a little more so other people will take notice of them.” Call Roy a “rat” and the next fan will write “die bitch”.
It’s easy to become the target of celebrity fan base ire. Selena Gomez received death threats just for dating Justin Bieber and the Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney was bombarded with nasty insults when he compared Lady Gaga to Madonna. But since Roy “bragged about being a side chick” on Instagram, Samantha says, she deserves the negative attention.
“Did Beyoncé mention her? Did she hint at her? No,” she says. “Now [Roy] wants to cry about being bullied over the internet? She asked for this attention.” The superfan would not pounce on any old criticism of Beyoncé, but she has “no time for women who have affairs”, never mind the ones who mess with Queen Bey.
But Karlicia Lewis, a 31-year-old author and life coach who describes herself as a “super Beyoncé fan”, thought the assault on Roy went overboard. “Sometimes I call myself a Beyhive member, but sometimes I’m not proud of how they treat others while supporting her,” she said. “The bullying gets out of hand.”
Of course, online fan groups are not all bad. They make people feel like they belong, especially those who face discrimination or have trouble forming in-person connections. Forsyth points out that the mob mentality can also create effective support groups when people “join in” instead of “pile on” (take Prince fans mourning his death as an example). But too often celebrity fans use their energy to target nonmembers, rather than bond with one another.
While there’s nothing too harmful about an onslaught of bee and lemon emojis, the more hateful online attacks can force people to shut down their accounts, or even experience mental health issues.
Samantha, for her part, stopped tweeting about Roy and Beyoncé on Sunday, and has moved on to other topics such as the Game of Thrones premiere. But she thinks the most fanatic Beyhivers could take their anger offline.
“Will [Roy] get something thrown at her? Will she probably get spit on? Yes, that will probably happen,” she said. “And if somebody sees her, they probably will try and snatch her hair.
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